need a laptop desk? diy your own stand

“i’ve been looking for a laptop desk so that my poor mac won’t overheat in the summer time. i was appalled to find that the two most common returns to a search were like… REALLY expensive.

this absurdly simple hack was done using the $19 benjamin stool and a $6 coping saw. you could make it pretty snappy by taping off the edges and spray painting the inside a really bright color. you could also make a shallower tray if you had access to a table-saw with a plywood blade on it.”

lazymonster’s grundtal laptop stand
this looks precarious but lazymonster has tested it for months and says it has served its purpose well besides displaying the laptop like a piece of art.

it’s put together from an old ikea grundtal paper towel holder (can’t find the link on ikea website) and some plexiglass sheet. and is made to be used with a tablet and keyboard, so he doesn’t really “touch” the laptop. so, no, you can’t type away merrily on this.

gino’s variera macbook stand
another cheap laptop desk option. gino from the netherlands used the ikea variera kitchen shelf (can’t find the link on ikea website) which fits his MacBook to a T.

“since the shelf itself is perforated, it helps to cool the bottom of those overheating notebooks. i ended up mounting the shelf upside down on its legs (pix below does not show this as it is a composite picture using the original variera). this prevents the notebook from falling off the shelf should you push against it from the front or the back.”

creaneo84′s funky monitor stand
breaking slightly from the theme but i couldn’t resist slipping in creaneo84′s awesome monitor stand that hides ugly cords too. also from a hacked benjamin stool. the front red panel is the deal maker.

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Jules IKEAHacker "I am Jules, the engine behind IKEAHackers and the one who keeps this site up and running. My mission is to capture all the wonderful, inspiring, clever hacks and ideas for our much loved IKEA items".

I designed one of the cheapest (yet stylin’ – matches your modern or retro decor with clean, geometric, metallic lines! ) laptop stands around to keep my husband’s laptop from frying its motherboard for the third time….so far so good! He’s had this one for the last two years now. In the BBQ section of your local hardware store, Canadian Tire, dollar store, or supermarket, look for one of those ‘semi-disposable’ wire grilles, made of the thin gridded wire with a wider rim. Mine cost two bucks in a Korean market.

Stick one edge of the grille about two inches under a sturdy door and pull up to bend the sheet at a thirty degree angle or so. Remove and reverse the sheet so that the opposing edge is under the door and the bend facing you is downwards. Pull up at a thirty degree angle again. (or use pliers, if you don’t have any steel doors or the metal is resisting bending)

You should have a rough Z shape. Placed on a horizontal surface, this gives you an elevated, tilted, completely non-air-blocking, light and portable surface. The bottom ‘upward’ bend holds the laptop in place, the top ‘downward’ bend serves as a leg or rim along the back to elevate the laptop.

If you can find one the same size as your laptop, you could use long heavy elastics or rubberized bands (like thin hairbands) to hold the grille right onto the computer for easy portability.

I really like the Laptop Flip as a stand for my Macbook Pro. It raises my laptop for better ventilation and allows me to store my Macbook in the vertical position when not in use. This save quite a bit of space on my cluttered desktop.

$5.97 !!!! JOY !!!! PLEASE RE-THINK YOUR CHOICE, IF A LAPTOP ‘DESK’ DOESN’T HAVE AIR VENTS: i wish it was wood, but, Rubbermaid (Walmart WOW:UNDER $6:kitchen storage area, but no pic on-line) makes a nearly weightless, wide, plastic coated wire shelf for in-cabinet use that is perfect for any size “”lap”" (hip spread) to use as a “”cool”" LAPTOP DESK/food tray in bed or on sofa: there’s enuf room for my large, 16″ HP & still room for a mouse or small writing pad, etc. on the side: good for HOURS & NEVER FEEL THE HEAT! I also use it to support a small DVD player for invalid-grandma, bringing the machine to any distance she prefers, and it never interferes with her leg comfort. Link photo here is not exact: mine has ‘handles’ on side, i highly recommend. thanks for all the great ideas, folks! namastehttp://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/product/product.jhtml?prodId=HPProd100107

I made a laptop stand out of the variera as well. I wanted to use it on my desk so I had to modify the original variera a little as it was too high for that purpose. What I did was to bend the base-thing. It’s made of metal so it’s easy to bend. To get proper angles at the right places I used a hammer for bending the first part. You might want to put a piece of cloth or something over the metal when you use the hammer to avoid the paint bursting off.Now I have a notebook stand that helps cooling the computer and offers a ergonomic typing position.

i use the ikea breakfast table as my laptop stand. it’s plastic and cools better than the wood option above.

to elevate my computer, i stuck those cheap foam circular stickers people put under tables and chairs to prevent it from scratching the floor. there are the really thick versions and these elevate the computer to allow the air to flow out and the computer to cool.

i loved the idea so i tried to do it for myself. didn’t turn out as good as i hoped. the laptop table turned out to be too small for me but luckly it fitted one certain member of the family you can check out my my photo set to find out what i mean. thanks ikea hacker and adam for the inspiration.

Cheep is nice but you still need a desk. Invest $149-160 for an AirDesk and work from a recliner. I gave away my desk. I’m a relciner now, life is good, even working 10 hours at a time. Check out http://www.airdesks.com, see what I am talking about.

These are all awesome hacks. I’ve just realized how much i need a laptop stand/desk for surfing on the sofa. Just one question, does these stands make the laptops heat up quicker? what about using a desk with slits to let heat escape? or build in a fan? Im sure ikea sells Fans. am i going overboard? sorry if i am.

I’ve been looking for something like this… I’ve been getting worried about my ‘fellas’ down there as I always have my laptop on my lap. I think I’m boiling them to death through the heat coming off my MacBook.

Like all of you needing something cheap and easy to keep the hot bottom of laptops off the tables, I was searching till I came to this site. While all are good and ingenious ideas, I have an even better one. Was browsing in the kitchen when I came upon two bottle corks. Hey presto! just pop them under the laptop a little like Julieta’s kinopiomethod, except I don’t have any fancy name for it. And you can just throw them into the bag, no weight, no bulk.

I have an hp widescreen. I use my scrabble box. It’s a perfect fit, and I find it doesn’t overheat, despite being unventilated. I can work in bed or in a chair this way. It is handy because I’m never playing scrabble and working at the same time. Of course I felt a little stupid the time I realised I was playing scrabulous online while using my actual scrabble as a laptop desk.

It is not an IKEA’s stuff, it something you can find anywhere…. a dish dryier rack!! in Woolworths UK http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50668667 you have it for £5, you have to take the medium holder and that’s it, there are 2 wire extension from the smaller (bottom) that fit 2 holes in my 2 laptops (a 15.4″ Widescreen and a 17″ square), also pad the base to increase softness against your legs

I too bought a Benjamin stool to make a laptop table.I’m not sure where to make the cut. The first time the depth was about 7 inches and that seems too tall. How tall is yours?It would save me some time and energy if I knew that.Thaank you!

I bought a pair of skate brake pads and set them under the back corners of my laptop. The weight of the laptop is enough to keep the rubber material from sliding around on my cheap lap-desk, and it takes no time to throw them in the laptop case.

I use a (discontinued? – the designer credit on the back is Elisabeth Bjorkbom) cork bottomed, pattern topped (TV) laminate tray from IKEA when I’m not at my desk, they were super cheap and I have a few of them strategically stored – bedside/chairside – but I like the look of the hacked benjamin stool. Good find MCS, grundtal lives.

I really like Adam’s idea, and just went to our local Ikea to pick up a Benjamin stool. Unfortunately, it’s exceedingly narrow. I’m not a big man, but I wonder about the cooling potential of a desk that’s only 16 inches across.

Does anyone know of any slightly (4 inches would do) wider products with a similar profile?

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